News Analysis India

Tag: Singhu lynching

  • Singhu lynching case be investigated by Supreme Court judge, demands Samyukt Kisan Morcha

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Thursday demanded that the Singhu lynching case be investigated by a Supreme Court judge and the resignation of Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Kailash Choudhary for meeting a Nihang Sikh leader whose group was allegedly involved in the brutal killing of a man.

    The umbrella body of farmer unions also gave the call for all-India dharnas to demand sacking and arrest of Union minister Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheir incident, and to mark the completion of 11 months of the protest against farm laws at Delhi borders.

    “SKM demands that Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Kailash Choudhary who were documented in pictures to have met the Nihang Sikh leader whose group is involved in the brutal murder should immediately resign. To investigate into the conspiracy and deep plot to entrap and denigrate farmers, SKM demands that an investigation by a Supreme Court judge should be instituted,” the Morcha said in a statement.

    It added that there was “a conspiracy to give a bad name to the farmers’ movement and to entrap it in violence” through such incidents.

    On October 15, the body of Lakhbir Singh, a Dalit labourer, was found tied to a barricade at the Singhu border, where the anti-farm law protesters are camping, with a hand chopped off and multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons.

    In a video clip that surfaced on social media platforms, some Nihangs were seen standing around the injured man with his severed left hand lying next to him.

    The Nihangs were heard accusing the man of desecrating a holy book of the Sikhs.

    “Thirty-two farmers’ organisations of Punjab met at Singhu Morcha yesterday. A five-member committee was also constituted to submit a fact-finding report of the incident. The meeting called upon the farmers of Punjab to strengthen the morchas by reaching out in large numbers to thwart the ongoing conspiracies of the government,” the SKM added.

  • Singhu lynching: Narendra Singh Tomar’s photo with Nihang ‘leader’ triggers row, Punjab minister sees ‘conspiracy’

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Tuesday called the lynching of a labourer at the Singhu border a possible conspiracy to defame the farmers’ agitation, citing a purported photograph of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar with a Nihang ‘leader’.

    Former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar also joined the controversy triggered by the appearance of the photograph on social media, alleging that Central agencies could be involved in last week’s murder at a farmers’ protest site near the Delhi-Haryana border.

    The group photo includes Tomar and a man in blue robes of the Sikh order of the Nihangs.

    The Union minister has in the past met farmer protest leaders to negotiate a solution to the deadlock over agri-marketing laws.

    Without mentioning any name, Randhawa claimed that the same Nihang leader was ‘defending’ the main accused in the killing.

    The Nihang group had accused the victim of desecrating a Sikh holy book.

    “In view of the recent disclosures about one of the Nihang leaders having already been in touch with the Government of India, Minister for Agriculture N S Tomar in particular, the lynching incident has now taken an entirely different turn,” Randhawa alleged in a statement.

    “There appeared to be a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame the farmers’ stir,” the minister claimed.

    He said Lakhbir Singh, the Dalit victim who belonged to Cheema Kalan village in Tarn Taran district, was very poor.

    “We need to find out who lured him to the Singhu border and who paid for his travel as he could not even afford his meals,” the Punjab minister said.

    The deputy CM said he has instructed the local administration to find out under what circumstances the man was taken from his home to the Singhu border.

    “In view of the recent photographic evidence available, the Nihang leader will also need to explain in what capacity he had met Union Agriculture Minister N S Tomar and whether he was mandated to do so by the farmers’ organisations spearheading the campaign against the three black farm laws.”

    Given the importance of the place where the “Nihang leader” was camping, “it was mandatory on his part to keep the farmers’ unions informed and updated about his meetings with the Union minister,” Randhawa said.

    “This has raised genuine doubts and suspicion among the minds of people and these need to be cleared,” he added.

    The minister said the Punjab government will do everything to get to the root of the “conspiracy” and expose and punish the culprits.

    Former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar alleged that there could be a role of the “agencies” in the murder at the Singhu border.

    But he did not elaborate on this.

    “There is certainly something more than what meets the eye,” he said in a statement.

    “The BJP has long been trying to tarnish the secular farmers’ struggle as a Sikh movement to term protesting Sikhs as militants,” Jakhar alleged, adding that the Punjabis are the country’s sword arm.

    He demanded a thorough investigation into events leading to the death.

    Lakhbir Singh was brutally killed last week and his body strung to a barricade at the farmers’ protest site with a hand chopped off and multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons.

    Sarabjit Singh, who was among the Nihangs arrested for the murder, claimed that he had “punished” the man for “desecrating” a Sikh holy book.

    A large numbers of farmers mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s border for nearly a year, demanding the repeal of the three farm laws enacted at the Centre.

  • 15 Dalit community organisations meet NCSC chairman, seek strict action in Singhu border killing case

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Fifteen organizations of Dalit community on Saturday met Vijay Sampla, Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and handed over written complaints demanding strict action against those responsible for the brutal murder of a man whose mutilated body was found hanging on Friday at the site of farmers’ protest near Singhu border.

    Sampla said they are expecting a report from the Haryana government over the incident and will decide the next course of action.

    “Today various organizations of Dalit community met me and have given written complaints against the Singhu border incident. All want that strict action should be taken for the brutal murder of Lakhbir Singh at Singhu border,” Sampla told ANI.

    “We have already sent a notice to DGP Haryana and Chief Secretary to take strict action and have also asked for return report. We are expecting a report by this evening and then we will decide what action needs to be taken. If needed, I will also go there. I am planning to go to his home town Tarn Taran in Punjab,” he added.

    He alleged that farmer leaders had “washed off their hands” of the entire incident ” but “it’s not correct”.

    “If they (the accused) are sitting with them in protest for 10 months and staying with them, then they are part of that protest only. The spot where they hanged him is also near the stage. Whatever incident occurs there they are responsible for it,” he said.

    National Schedule Caste Alliance, Bhartiya Baudh Sangh, Ravidas Vishawa Mahapeeth (Delhi), Valmiki Maha Panchayat were among the organisations that met the NCSC chairman.

    Bhartiya Baudh Sangh president Bhante Sanghpriya Rahul said they were distressed with the incident.

    “We strongly condemn it. Every day there is a new incident against the Dalits. We met the chairman of the SC commission. He has given an assurance. We are demanding strict action against culprits,” he said.

    Haryana Police had said on Friday that a body of a man, with hands and legs chopped off, was found hanging on a police barricade at the farmers’ protest site near the Singhu border.

    An FIR has been registered in the case. The deceased has been identified as Lakhbir Singh resident of village Cheema Khurd in Tarn Taran district of Punjab.

    The police said he was about 36 years old, worked as a labourer and had no criminal record or affiliation with any political party.

  • Singhu border lynching: BJP blames unions, SAD wants probe into all angles

    By Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: Tension prevailed at Singhu border on Friday following the brutal killing of a man with the farmer unions seeking to dissociate their agitation from the incident. The protesting farmers huddled in groups to discuss the repercussions of the killing. They also maintained a distance from the journalists who went to Singhu border to cover the incident. 

    The deceased, Lakhbir Singh, was a labourer from Cheema Khurd village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district and was aged around 35 years.The Haryana Police have registered a case of murder against unidentified persons at Kundli police station in Sonipat district. The victim is survived by wife, Jaspreet Kaur, and three daughters. His wife had left him a few months ago and went to live with her parents.  Villagers said Singh lived with his sister. “On Tuesday we saw him in the village as he was the only person from the village to go to Singhu,” a villager said, adding that the deceased had no political affiliations.

    ALSO READ | ‘Opposed to any form of violence’: Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Singhu border ‘gruesome killing’

    Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a high-level meeting with senior officials, including the DGP and home secretary, over the lynching incident.While the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) distanced itself from the incident, the BJP put the blame on farmer leaders. Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma said, “The farmer unions are responsible for the unfortunate murder of a SC youth and action should taken against the culprits. This is not Afghanistan. We are a democracy and believe in equal rights for human beings irrespective of caste, creed and religion.” 

    Former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal  and patron of the Shiromani Akali Dal demanded an impartial probe into all angles of the heinous crime, including the brutal murder and allegations of sacrilege of the holy Sikh scripture.

    With PTI inputs

  • Singhu border lynching: Haryana Police detains one person in Sonipat

    By ANI

    SONIPAT: Haryana Police on Friday detained one person in Sonipat in connection with the Singhu border incident where a corpse was found hanging with hands and legs chopped at the spot where farmers’ protest is underway.

    “The person has been detained from Kundli in Sonipat. An FIR has been lodged,” said police.

    ALSO READ | ‘Opposed to any form of violence’: Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Singhu border ‘gruesome killing’

    Earlier on Friday, a corpse of a man, with hands and legs chopped off, was found hanging on a police barricade at the farmers’ protest site near the Singhu border, said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Hansraj.

    “An FIR has been registered in the case,” said the DSP.

    The man has been identified as Lakhbir Singh resident of village Cheema Khurd in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. The deceased, about 35-36 years old, who used to work as a labourer, has no criminal record or affiliation with any political party, informed the police.